We request partial funding for the 9th Annual Meeting of the Oxygen Society to be held on Nov 20-24, 2002 at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter, San Antonio, TX. Funds will support the travel, lodging and registration fees of invited speakers so that funds from The Oxygen Society operating budget and annual meeting income can be directed toward supporting the travel and participation of students, fellows and young investigators, as well as members lecturing in an optional workshop on "Back to the Basics: Measurement of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and their biological effects". This workshop will provide lectures by experts to young or new investigators on the concepts, approaches, interpretations and various techniques applied in quantification of reactants and products of oxidant/free radical-mediated reactions in vitro and in vivo. The body of the meeting will then begin for four days, with four invited plenary lectures delivered in the morning and two parallel afternoon sessions. The themes of the four invited plenary lectures in the morning are: Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species in Sickle Cell Disease, Free Radicals and the Biology of Aging, Biological and Antioxidant Activities of Flavanoids, and Nitrative Stress and Neurodegeneration. The lectures delivered in the afternoon sessions will be selected from abstracts submitted at large by members of the Program Committee. Each afternoon session will be chaired by selected young investigators in the field. From 8-9:30 am, The Sunrise Free Radical School, a distinct characteristic of the Oxygen Society Meeting, will be held each day featuring senior scientists or experts in the field addressing fundamental aspects of free radical chemistry and biology to an audience consisting of students, fellows and young investigators. Poster sessions will be displayed all day and will be open for discussion between 4:30-6:30 pm. Overall, sessions will address a broad range of research endeavors surrounding the diverse roles that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species play in biology and disease. Research presented will have an impact on our understanding of aging as well as cardiovascular, neoplastic, inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases and may provide new insight into mechanisms by which novel antioxidants and therapeutics may attenuate some of these diseases. In summary, the conference provides a forum for exchange of recent basic and applied research on free radical chemistry, biology & medicine as well as an opportunity for scientists to discuss new collaborative arrangements.